A Light in the Dark
by nemoiswaldo
Summary: 50 years since voldemort has been defeated and peace reigns supreme, but when people start disappearing, what will the Wizarding world do without Harry Potter there to save the day.I've added on to the chapter so R&R please.Rated k for now may change soon
1. Common Meetings

A Light in the Dark

Summary

Peace filled the wizarding world after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. It has been almost fifty years since his children left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everyone has pretty much forgotten the dark times. However, people have started disappearing and no one knows who will be next. Parents are keeping a close eye when their children are out and a wand is always nearby.

All the same, four kids, unaffected by disappearances, are starting their first year at Hogwarts. Meeting in a train compartment with odd names carved into the wood, they all become instant friends. Over time they share all their secrets and, once word of the troubles at home reach them, ideas of what's behind the disappearances. Although these friends are close can they pull through the hard times and maybe even face death together.

Common Meetings

Chapter 1

The bustle on the platform didn't help with Amberly's nervousness as she slowly looked around at all the people. Everyone looked excited as they got ready to leave, hugging parents and siblings goodbye, meeting up with old friends, and loading onto the scarlet train. Amberly swallowed and shifted slightly then looked up at her brother, Charlie, as he grasped her shoulder.

"You look nervous," he teased, smiling easily at her.

Amberly shrugged slightly and looked back at the train. Charlie just smiled and led her that way helping her with her trunk.

"You'll be fine. I know everything is different at first, but you'll survive. I did and you see how I turned out," he said with a grin.

"Annoying?" she asked jokingly making her brother glare at her before he pulled her trunk onto the train.

"For that comment you get to find your own compartment," he shot back as he walked away.

"But... but... Charlie!" she called out after him, but he just ignored her. She let out a long sigh and started searching for a place to sit.

Braden and Rebekah had already said their goodbyes and were now comfortably seated in a compartment about halfway down the train. Rebekah, who was extremely shy had pestered their parents arrive early so that she didn't have to deal with the crowds. Braden was the older of the twins, only by a few minutes, but that doesn't stop him from lording it over his sister.

"Hey little sis, come over here and look at this, it looks like someone has carved their name in the wall here," he said as he examined his find.

Rebekah reluctantly dragged her nose out of her copy of The Basics of Potion Making and glared at her brother as she said, "We're twins, doofus. That means that we're the exact same age, _and _I'm two inches taller than you, you can't exactly call me your 'little' sister. Anyways what do I care about some scratches left by some delinquents who probably aren't even still attending Hogwarts?" She leaned in, her curiosity getting the better of her, "Padfoot, Prongs, _Moony__, _what kind of names are those. Who in their right mind would want to be called _Wormtail_?"

"I still think it's cool," Braden said as Rebekah picked up her potions book again. "I wonder if I could find out who they really were, "He grumbled as their compartment door slid open.

Amberly looked at the obvious twins and swallowed in apprehension. She opened and closed her mouth a few times but nothing came out. After a little while she finally got the words out, "Sorry to intrude, but may I join you?"

Down the car a ways a young boy, obviously in his first year, was walking up and down the aisle trying to find a seat. He almost hadn't made it to the station on time and was betting that he would have to wonder the train until it arrived at the school. In reality Jaxon Rast had no idea what he was getting into, he didn't even know he was a wizard till about a month ago.

A soft purr below him made him look down. A gray tabby was winding in and out of his legs. He blinked in surprise, wondering who it belonged to, but it soon took off to chase a rat. He just shook his head and kept going. Soon he heard voices and saw a girl asking to join two kids who had a compartment to themselves. As he looked in Jaxon notice that the compartment would easily hold four people. He swallowed and headed that way. "C... can I sit here too," he stammered looking at them sheepishly.

"Sure," Braden answered immediately to both of the newcomers glad to have someone to talk to other than his brainyack sister.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Rebekah grumbled, annoyed at the loss of her semi-quiet reading time.

"Oh, come on Bekka, join the group it'll be a lot more fun than reading some dusty old book," Braden teased.

"Shut up, Braden," Bekka shot back, "You heard what our brother Lucas said 'potions is the hardest class for first years' and he should know, after all he was one last year.

The two newcomers sat silently watching this exchange between brother and sister until they heard a knock outside their compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" a matronly old witch asked sweetly as they slid the door open. Everyone made their purchases except the new boy, who respectfully declined.

After introductions were made Braden offered Jaxon one of the Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans that he bought from the trolley.

"Sure, I've never had one before,"Jaxon accepted taking the candy offered to him and popping it into his mouth.

Almost immediately Jaxon began coughing and spitting. Braden burst out laughing while Amberly and Bekka tried to help the poor boy back into his seat.

"What in the world was that?" Jaxon exclaimed, " It tasted like wet dog fur!"

"It probably was," Bekka explained patiently while glaring at her brother who was still laughing hysterically. " When they say every flavor they truly mean every flavor."

Not long after everything had settled back down they heard a soft scratching at the door. Amberly, who was closest to the door, opened it to allow in a large gray tabby. The cat silently padded over to Jaxon, jumped up onto his lap, and promptly went to sleep. Jaxon looked down at the cat but didn't move. The cat purred softly but didn't wake up.

"Is it yours Amberly asked Jaxon, smiling at him.

"N.... no . I don't even know where it came from," he said looking up at his companions. Amberly looked confused but just shrugged.

"There's no problem bringing a pet to school," she said " I have an owl but he's with my trunk in back."

Jaxon just nodded slightly remembering the letter he received saying something about animals. As he looked around he thought to himself _these people seem kind of nice, even if Braden does like playing pranks on people. I we stay friends once we reach the school._

"So, what house are you all planning on being in?" Braden asked the group. Jaxon looked confused at the question.

Amberly noticed the look and began to explain,"There are four houses Gryffindor, the brave; Ravenclaw, the wise; Hufflepuff, the loyal;and Slytherin, the sly."

"Is there one for the clueless?" Jaxon asked weakly.

Amberly laughed quietly and shook her head. "My parents and brother were in Ravenclaw and that's where I'd like to be, but it really doesn't matter so long as it's not Slytherin," she said to Braden.

"Well I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Braden boasted, "I don't care what anyone says."

"I guess it doesn't really matter what I want since it isn't my choice, but I would really like to be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," Bekka added quietly.

"Wait," Jaxon interjected, "If you don't get to choose your own house, How do you know which one you're in?"

"Well, this is how it works," Braden began with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "When we get off the train, we will be led into the Forbidden Forest by this Big brute of a man, people say he's half giant but I think that that's just an exaggeration. Anyways, once we get into the forest the man who led us there will apperate back to the castle and we will have to find our own way out, fighting all sorts of monsters along the way."

"M... monsters," Jaxon stammered out.

"Oh yeah, all kinds, giant spiders, angry centaurs, trolls, they even say that there's an enchanter car that tries to run the new students over. Afterward we are sorted on how we decided to get out. Well... those of us that survive that is," Braden said with an evil grin.

Bekka who had been silently laughing with Amberly at the increasingly terrified look on Jaxon's face finally took pity on the poor boy and said, "Shame on you, Braden, scaring the new kid like that. Anyways, you know that it's not possible to apperate inside school grounds. " She turned to Jaxon, "all that's going to happen is when we get off the train we will take a boat across the lake up to the castle. When we get there we will line up and walk into the great hall. One of the professors will call out the names and when it's your turn you go up and sit on the stool at the front of the hall. The professor will place the Sorting Hat on your head and it will call out what house you're supposed to be in."

"So, it's just random?" Jaxon asked as Braden grumbled something about Bekka spoiling all his fun.

_"_Not exactly," Amberly jumped in, "You see the sorting hat has a _really_ strong enchantment placed on it."

"How does it decide?" Jaxon asked amazed.

"Well, it's mostly based on your personality, but it's really hard to explain exactly why the hat chooses certain houses for certain people," Amberly said in a sophisticated voice. Jaxon laughed lightly, knowing that her answer really meant that she had no clue, and resumed petting the cat in his lap.

"You know, my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, I don't know, maybe three hundred times great grandfather and grandmother were the first ones sorted by the hat," Amberly said after a little while.

"What houses were they in?" Jaxon asked

"Ravenclaw. There hasn't been a single member of my family _not _in Ravenclaw," she stated a little smugly.

"Never?" he asked amazed.

"Never ever," she answered with a smile.

"That's cool,"he said before looking over at Bekka and the book she was reading. "Is that a good book?" he asked .

* * *

AN:I just sent this out as a tester just to get a feel for the publishing process. If you like it please tell me by reviewing. This started as a role play between my friend Chrystan and me so please disregaurd any structural changes and if any of you grammer nazis catch any mistakes tell me and I'll correct them.

P.S. I own nothing so please don't sue me ( you wont get much anyway except maybe my awsome collection of books, but you nice people wouldn't sue me for that would you * insert puppy dog eyes here*.)


	2. End of a Tradition

End of a Tradition

Chapter 2

Soon the kids were off the train and looking around with amazement as a rather tall man walked their way.

"First years! Follow me, first years!"

Jaxon let out a yelp as the giant walked over to them. He grinned at them and motioned for them to follow before walking off.

"W-was that a g-giant?" Jaxon asked looking at Amberly.

"Yeah, he replaced the old Hagid I believe" said Braden following the others towards the lake. Amberly followed and smiled as Hogwarts came into view.

"It's huge," murmured Jaxon.

"And that's just the outside," commented Rebekah. Jaxon swallowed and followed his newly acquainted friends.

Soon the new Hogwarts students were on the boat and across the lake. As they walked up the steps and inside Amberly paused looking at the door to the Great Hall. Rebekah stopped, looking at Amberly.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Amberly was quiet for a moment with her head tilted to the side.

"I just feel like things are about to change. And I'm not sure I'm ready for it," she murmured.

"Ok, I know this will sound like a PBS special but here goes anyways," said Rebekah. "Things will change. Things are always changing, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's all about your choices whether or not the change is a good or a bad one. All right, now that my family special is over, do you feel better?"

"Only if you promise never to do that again," Amberly replied with a smirk.

"Okay," Rebekah agreed as they both busted out laughing. What they didn't notice until it was too late was that the boys kept trying to get their attention. However, the girls stopped giggling immediately when they heard someone loudly clear their throat just behind them. Amberly and Rebekah slowly turned around and saw a middle-aged woman in a set of deep red witches robes.

"Now, if you two are finished with your conversation, we will proceed. My name is Lily Potter. You will address me as Professor Potter as I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. We will all get better acquainted soon but for now let us proceed into the Great Hall and begin the Sorting Ceremony," and with that the professor waved her hand and the enormous doors opened as she walked through and led the first years to the front of the Great Hall.

Amberly and Rebekah fell quiet, their faces still red, and followed the professor while looking around. A few kids around them were whispering, trying to guess what houses they would be put in. As they stopped near the front, Professor Potter brought out a stool and put an old hat on top of it. Jaxon was watching the hat with nervousness while Amberly and the twins looked excited. Everyone got really quiet when the hat started to move on its own.

"Greetings all to a bright new year,

But hold your applause and excited cheer.

Great change is coming to those who at present have no foes.

You all seem so serious at my startling news,

But be of good cheer it's my job to confuse.

As the dawn of the new age comes, a dawn of new fun begins.

But the journey only starts when you decide to jump in.

The whole hall broke into cheers and only Amberly seemed to be thinking about the hat's message. To her, it seemed to be a warning but she was soon shaken out of her thoughts.

"When I call your name come up here and the hat will sort you," said Professor Potter as she looked at the list in her hand. "Daniel Alphely."

A small boy walked up and was sorted into Hufflepuff. Other kids were sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and a few even went into Slytherin.

"Braden DiAngelo."

Amberly watched as Braden went from being a jokester to looking extremely nervous. He even had to receive a little nudge before he went up to the stool. As the professor put the hat on his head it immediately yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table exploded into cheers at finally getting their first new student. Braden quickly relaxed and smiled as he walked over to them to wait out the rest of the Sorting Ceremony.

"Rebekah DiAngelo."

Rebekah swallowed and slowly started up towards the stool. Everyone was quiet, waiting. The hat was silent for a moment before proclaiming, "Gryffindor."

Braden clapped and cheered as loud as anyone and moved over to let his sister sit down. Rebekah smiled at everyone and watched as the sorting continued. A few others were sorted and the group of remaining first years was getting thinner.

"Jaxon Geren."

Jaxon froze and looked at the professor. No one had showed that it hurt but he was still a bit scared. Amberly smiled at him and nodded encouragingly. Jaxon stepped forward and sat on the stool. The hat was quiet for a long time as if unsure where to put the boy. Amberly watched with her fingers crossed.

"Gryffindor," the hat finally bellowed.

Jaxon visibly relaxed as he took a seat across from Braden. At least he would know someone. Below him he heard a small purr and felt something rub up against his leg. Not paying the cat any attention he smiled and waited for Amberly to get sorted.

"Cyrus Greyback."

Amberly tensed as a well muscled boy walked past her, throwing her an evil smirk as he did. Braden and Rebekah tensed too but Jaxon just looked confused.

"Why did everyone just go rigid?" Jaxon whispered looking at the twins.

Rebekah shared a look with Braden before replying, "That kid's granddad was one of the worst people in the Wizarding World a few decades ago. Rumor has it that he is just as bad or getting there at least."

She threw a worried look over to Amberly who was still stiff.

The hat barley touched his head before sorting him into Slytherin.

"Amberly Hackney."

Amberly nervously stepped up. A lot of people at the Ravenclaw table watched her with expectant looks. Amberly smiled at them but then she looked at her new friends at the Gryffindor table, she didn't want to leave them behind. As she sat down she saw her brother smile at her from the Ravenclaw table. For a few moments there was complete silence in the hall as the hat was placed upon her head.

"GRYFFINDOR."

Amberly just sat there, a cold feeling in her stomach. Not a sound was made in the Great Hall as shock filled the room. Even Gryffindor was stunned to be getting _this _new student. Amberly looked at her brother before quickly going to sit by Jaxon, for the rest of the sorting she just sat there, her hands shaking slightly.

"Amazing," Braden said once the sorting was through, not even noticing the Amberly's shock had not yet worn off. "All four of us in the same House this is going to be awesome."

"Shhh, the Headmaster is getting ready to speak," Rebekah interrupted him as Jaxon tried to comfort Amberly.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I am Professor George Weasley, Headmaster of this fine school. And to my right is your Deputy Headmistress, Professor Alyssa Dursley, who will also be your Potions Professor. You will get introduced to your other professors soon enough but I know you are all hungry so for now, let the feast begin," with that the Headmaster let out a laugh and threw a handful of licorice snaps to the group of excited first years.

Braden casually snatched one out of the air but before he could take a bite out of it, it jumped out of his hand and bit him on the nose and then committed suicide by diving into his still open mouth and down his throat.

At this everyone laughed, silently glad that they had failed in their own attempts to grab one, even Amberly seemed to be shaken out of her shocked state.

"Glad I didn't get one of those," said Jaxon through laughs as Amberly smiled a little more and got food. The others soon followed and were laughing and talking. Forgetting what had happened. However, it kept bothering Amberly and apparently it was obvious.

"You really didn't want to be here did you?" asked Jaxon softly. Amberly looked at him, startled, and sat there trying to find the words to help explain.

"You don't have to make me feel better, I just wanted to know," he said, putting down his fork.

"It's not like that…" she slowly replied. "It's just… look, they look at me like I'm a traitor. They were my friends."

"If they were really your friends they wouldn't care what house you're in." said Braden looking at her.

"Wow, you actually said something smart," said Rebekah, which earned her a glare, "But he's right. You're welcomed here."

Amberly smiled slightly, slowly feeling a better. Jaxon gave her a small one-armed hug.

"One question?" he said.

"Shoot."

"Are you going to eat your potatoes?" Jaxon asked. Amberly laughed and hit his arm, while Jaxon just grinned.

* * *

AN: Sorry it took me so long to update i've been busy but ch3 is done and i'll be uploading it in a few days. *Virtual cookies to the first one who reviews on this chapter*


	3. Treasures of the Past

Treasures of the Past

Chapter 3

After the feast the group followed the prefects to Gryffindor Tower. Once inside they handed their schedules to Professor Dursley.

Now remember, be on time to all your classes, if you don't know your way around, ask an upperclassman," there were a few snorts of laughter as if in anticipation of a good joke. "I will not hesitate to take points away from, my own house. Now off to bed all of you, first period classes come very early in the morning." With that the professor left the common room and the rest of the Gryffindors broke up into small groups of friends before going up to the dormitories.

Jaxon looked around, amazement in his eyes. Everything seemed more like a home than any he had ever been in. He saw Amberly smile slightly as she slowly walked around talking to people nearby.

"It's amazing. Everyone is so…" Amberly trailed off as she walked back over to Jaxon with a grin on her face.

"I know," he said, smiling at Rebekah and Braden.

"Well I guess we should head of to bed. I think we all have Charms in the morning," said Rebekah. Amberly nodded and waved goodbye to the guys before following the older girls.

"Well I guess we should head off to," said Jaxon looking at Braden.

When they got to the boys dormitory, Braden just ran and flopped down on his bed while Jaxon wondered around looking at everything.

"So, what do you think of everything?" asked Braden.

"It's overwhelming, everything is so… so… _big," _Jaxon answered with awe in his voice. "Where do all the other Gryffindors sleep? There has to be more than this."

"Yeah, this is only the first years. The upperclassmen sleep further up the stairs. Somehow they always know the exact amount of beds needed each year, like magic" Braden answered him with a smirk.

Jaxon, who obviously didn't get it, went and sat on his bed. Just as he was about to lie down he heard something papery crinkle under him.

He blinked and sat back up, slipping his arm under his pillow. The only thing he felt at first was the soft fabric of the sheets but suddenly his fingers brushed against something rough. He stopped and looked confused before grabbing and pulling whatever it was out. In his hand was a very old crumpled piece of parchment. It looked like it had been folded and unfolded many times. However, when he opened it there was no writing inside. He sat there for a moment, before throwing it away, just looking at the parchment.

"What you got there?" asked Braden, walking over.

"I don't know, some old raddy piece of paper," he said, tossing it towards the end of his bed. He shook his head but stopped when something started showing up on the paper. He slowly picked the parchment up looking at the crisp writing.

_Messrs. Moony would like to comment, before you call something raddy you should look in a mirror. _

Jaxon quietly read this message under his breath before saying aloud, "What… hey I'm not raddy.

Braden laughed and took the paper. "This is a charmed parchment I think," he said laughing slightly as he looked it over.

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Jaxon asked, still indignant at being insulted by a piece of paper.

"It has everything to do with everything," Braden said with a mischievous grin. "This means we can prank the girls."

That's when Jaxon noticed that the Parchment was beginning to say something again.

_Messrs. Padfoot wants to know, did somebody say something about pranks?_

_Messrs. Prongs is wondering the same as Messrs. Padfoot and also considering the possibility that there may be another generation of Marauders at Hogwarts. _

_Messrs. Moony would like to interrupt this train of thought by saying NO WAY! There is only one set of Marauders which is as it should be considering how much trouble we have caused._

_Messrs. Wormtail would like to quickly state that the password is 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'_

_Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs would like to say _**SHUT UP WORMTAIL!**

_Messrs. Moony would like to point out to the obviously thinking impaired Wormtail that a map such as this one is a very dangerous item in the hands of the wrong wizard. _

_Messrs. Prongs wants Wormtail to know that he is hereby officially banned from knowing any and all passwords since he cannot keep his big mouth shut, and also that if they were true Marauders they would have figured out the password or at least a way to change the password without our help._

_Messrs. Padfoot agrees with both Messrs. Prongs and Moony but would also like to state that it is now too late to change anything so we should just sit back and watch the mayhem begin._

Braden and Jaxon, who had been watching in stunned silence up to this point, hastily said the password and tapped the parchment with their wands.

"Whoa," was that Jaxon could say while Braden was completely silent, only gazing in awe as the map unfolded before them.

Jaxon watched mutely as footprints started wandering on the page, as if someone was wandering around. As he looked at it he found the Gryffindor tower. Sure enough both Braden's and his names were in the room not moving. He also saw other peoples names in other parts of the school; George Weasley, Alyssa Dursley, Lily Potter… along with many others. He could see where there were secret entrances and exits from the school as well.

A cold dread hit him strangely as he recalled the words that were written across the paper. 'a map like this is a dangerous item in the wrong hands.'

"We can't tell anyone about this," said Jaxon looking at Braden. "Not even the girls."

Braden looked at him startled and blinked. "Why not? I think they'll find it interesting, especially Bekka," he said tilting his head slightly.

"I know but we don't know whose it is. It may belong to a teacher or someone. But until we know how to change the password, we shouldn't tell anyone, just in case."

In the corner of the map words started appearing again.

_Messrs. Prongs would like to say that he likes the way this kid thinks._

"But that could take weeks," proclaimed Braden.

"I know, but it's what we should do," murmured Jaxon.

"Okay," said Braden, "but we may need the girls help with that. They are a lot smarter than us, well a lot smarter than me at least."

"No, you were right the first time," agreed Jaxon. "They are a lot smarter than us. If we can't figure out how to do it then we will ask the girls for help, okay."

"Ok, that works for me but for now we need to get to sleep. We'll need to get up early if we plan to beat the girls out of the dorms and down to the library."

"All right goodnight then," said Jaxon and with that they both fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in the girls dormitory, Bekka and Amberly were plotting just how they should prank the guys at breakfast in the morning.

"… They'd never fall for it, Bekka. Anyway, what do we do if the teachers get mad at them," said Amberly.

"They will be fine. Plus you said that your brother used to pick on you all the time. This spell will help you get back at him and you'll get to see the dumbfounded look on Braden's face."

Amberly fell quiet for a moment then nodded. "All right, I'll do it."

* * *

AN: See I told you I would upload soon two chapters in one week ;) I'm practically spoiling you. *Virtual Chocolate Frogs to the First Reviewer on this chapter. So go on you know you want to press that little blue button.


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